Gotcha

After nearly three years of avoiding the virus, Heidi tested positive for COVID this afternoon. She was feeling a little poorly with a headache that wouldn't quit, and so, out of caution, she pulled out one of the home tests and swabbed her nose. It was honestly a bit surreal to see the two pink lines on that square white lollipop, a sight I had only seen once before, when my nephew tested positive at Christmas in 2021. 

Heidi is sure she caught the 'rona at the Seinfeld show last Saturday. The venue seemed airy and well-ventilated, but the seats were very, very close together. No matter the where and the when, though, here we are: Heidi with mild systems, in a mask, spending her time upstairs, making sub plans for at least 2 days, and I with no symptoms and a negative test, so far, canceling a planned visit to my 86-year-old aunt, and mulling what those sixth graders might do, should I have to miss nearly a week. 

Because, really? What are the chances I'm going to get out of this COVID-free?

Condolences Accepted

"You guys need to hurry up and be on time to your next class!" I called as the bell rang at the end of my last class of the day. "I need to run to a meeting!"

A student did a double take at the news. "Wait! You have meetings when we are in PE and electives?" she asked.

"Yep," I answered, "almost every day."

"I'm so sorry," she said, and it really sounded like she meant it.

Trending Now

Our warm-up question today was What is the next trend that is going to blow up? I figured it was tangentially related to commercials and media literacy, plus, I was curious. 

Rhianna and her baby, Kevin Durant joining the Suns, the new Antman movie, plaid, Cobra Kai, Crocs, AI, EVs, Wednesday Adams, Jaritos Nike Dunks, TikToks of Free Palestine, and side ponytails were all on the list.

Stranger Things, the fifth season, was a very popular prediction, but equally so was Ginny and Georgia, a show that often shows up in my Netflix feed, but I've never seen it. I may have to watch after all the rave reviews I heard today, including, "I watch it with my cousin, and I loved it. (She is older so she didn't show me the mushy gushy things for me to stay HOLY!) Amen!"

I also had to laugh at this prediction: "More baggy clothes, because they are so comfortable, and I can't believe they will ever go out of style."

The 90s might have something to say about that, kid.

Fond Memories

One of the commercial production teams needed a location for their ad that could be a party. I suggested Heidi's room, because of the LED lights and they went to get her permission. I knew there was a class in there at that time, but my 6th grade students invited her 8th grade students to be extras in the party scene, so it worked out. 

Treat is the assistant in the class, and he told me that after the commercial team team left, the 8th graders were reminiscing.

"That was a fun project!" said one.

"Yeah it was," agreed another. "What was your product?"

"I don't remember," the first kid answered. "What was yours?"

"I don't remember either," the second kid said. "But it was really fun making those commercials!"

Here's the thing-- those kids were in my English class when they were sixth graders, but it was the year we were virtual until March, so we didn't get to do the commercials.

I'm glad they think they enjoyed it, though!

Misuse of Wardrobe

"We need all the costumes for our commercial!" one group told me today.

"How could you?" I asked, looking over at the judge's robe, the chef's jacket, the cowpoke vest, the velvet vest, the construction vest, the blue scrubs, the white lab coat, the fancy blazer, and the three aprons, not to mention all 12 hats. "There are only 4 people in your group!"

"Oh, we're trying to make a closet," they explained. "Somebody's going to be in there."

"We have closets out in the hall," I told them.

"That would be better," they agreed.

Tech Lag

"Can we put aliens in our commercial?" a couple of kids asked me today.

"You mean extra-terrestrials?" I clarified. "Sure."

Then they launched into this convoluted concept for some kind of device that the aliens would want, but was actually a funnel worn on someone's head.

"Why do they aliens want it?" I asked. 

They conferred. "I think it will allow them to understand humans," suggested one.

"That's cool," I agreed, "but maybe you can expand it so that people use it, too, to translate automatically from one language to another.

"Isn't that Alexa?" another student remarked, and the 'duh' was strongly implied.

Turns out? She was right. How did I miss that? And how long will it be before we all just wear those devices?

The Show

What can I say about the crowd at Jerry Seinfeld's sold-out show last night? Like us, they were mostly over 50 and white. The exceptions were teenagers with their parents and white guys in their 30s who, if overheard conversations can be any measure, work for Republicans on the Hill. (And Wolf Blitzer was definitely there, too.)

And what can I say about the venue? The lines moved quickly, security was efficient, the staff was helpful, but the seats were underwhelming folding chairs, slightly padded but packed verrrry closely together.

How about the show itself?  Well, Seinfeld was funny, but not hilarious, with a much more animated style than I expected, especially given the deadpan persona of his television show.This Jerry Seinfeld grabbed the mic from its stand and paced and grimaced and gestured for the entire show. The stool on the stage was merely to hold his water.

In the end? Seinfeld is a rich, white, heterosexual dude in his late 60s, so the jokes about growing up in the 60s and 70s and even raising kids, kind of landed with us two married, white middle aged teacher ladies, but we probably didn't connect with about half of his material. 

Even so, there we were. And honestly, I don't regret a moment.